1964 Topps #37 Smoky Burgess
About Smoky Burgess
Card #37 lands in the first series of the 1964 set, and it catches Burgess at the hinge of his Pirates run. The back covers 1963: a .280 average, six home runs and 37 RBI in 91 games, worked around Jim Pagliaroni, acquired from Boston that November, who started 78 games behind the plate to Burgess's 65. That Pittsburgh roster was quietly stacked with bench weapons - Manny Mota arrived in April and Jerry Lynch in May, giving one club three of the most productive pinch hitters the game has produced. Topps printed Burgess as a Pirate again for 1964, but he would not finish the season in the uniform.
Forrest Harrill "Smoky" Burgess spent 18 major-league seasons (1949-1967) as a catcher and, in his final years, as the game's premier pinch hitter, playing for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox. A native of Caroleen, North Carolina, the stocky left-handed hitter was chosen for six All-Star squads, nine selections in all under the era's two-game format, and he hit .368 for the 1954 Phillies. Traded to Pittsburgh in January 1959, he won a World Series ring in 1960, batting .333 as the Pirates upset the Yankees, and he led National League catchers in fielding percentage three times, in 1953, 1960 and 1961. Claimed on waivers by the White Sox in September 1964, Burgess was used almost exclusively off the bench over his last three seasons and retired as the career leader in pinch hits, a mark that stood until Manny Mota passed him in 1979. He finished at .295 with 126 home runs and 673 RBI, and is enshrined in the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Accounts of his nickname vary, crediting the nearby Smoky Mountains, his father's nickname, his lack of speed, or the fact that he never smoked.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac (1) · Baseball Almanac (2)
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 204 | 0 | 21 | 87 | 61 | 24 | 5 | 6 | 0 |
| SGC | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
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Related cards
Team card: #373 Pittsburgh Pirates
More Pittsburgh Pirates cards:
- #1 1963 National League E.R.A. Leaders
- #7 1963 National League Batting Leaders
- #20 Bob Friend
- #62 Ted Savage
- #74 Pirates 1964 Rookie Stars
- #91 Bob Bailey
- #117 Earl Francis
- #141 Danny Murtaugh
- #163 Donn Clendenon
- #193 Jerry Lynch
- #209 Bob Allen
- #224 Tommie Sisk
- #246 Manny Mota
- #266 Gene Freese
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1964 Topps #37 card?
It is card #37 of the 587-card 1964 Topps Baseball set, picturing Smoky Burgess of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
How many cards are in the 1964 Topps Baseball set?
587 cards, tracked as 589 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 587 with no gaps, and no number carries two different cards; two cards - #4, the A.L. Pitching Leaders, and #517, the seventh-series checklist - carry a catalogued back variation that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, The Topps Archives, Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-11.